Some interesting changes in Tax Law

Some interesting changes in Tax Law

16. 10. 26

In my last blog, I indicated that I would go into the process of an appeal in tax court. First let me explain, we have a special court for tax matters in the Dutch Caribbean that is manned by judges who are knowledgeable, one might even say, experts on tax law.

This special court until recently only resided in Sint Maarten once or twice year, so a tax appeal took months and sometimes even years. Until recently there was no appeal possible on a decision of the tax court.

The good news is you don’t need an expensive tax lawyer to appeal for you, you are allowed to do it yourself. The bad news is, you should have some knowledge of the law and some articles which you feel were wrongly applied or interpreted incorrectly. Because that is what the judge is going to judge your case on, the application of the law.

He will look at:

The facts presented to him (in writing).

Jurisprudence on how a certain article has been judged before.

Conclusion, you do need someone who is knowledgeable in tax law, but it doesn’t have to be a lawyer, many tax consultants can do it just the same. In the matter of cost; there are always some minimal court fees, but you don’t need a very expensive lawyer. If the tax assessment is worth disputing, the cost shouldn’t be a deterrent.

More good news, in May /June of this year Sint Maarten adapted a law that allows parties to take a decision on a tax matter in the court of first instance, (which now has tax judges), to a higher tax appeal court. This means three things.

The court of first instance now handle tax appeals, so it should go faster

The court of first instance has resident tax judges

The second level of appeal is granted

With the increase of the audits and levying of the tax department, I am happy to see that the legislative body of our country is doing more to protect the rights of the citizens/tax payers.